P KZN CONDUCT DISORDER

Conduct disorder (CD) is generally divided into two types, childhood onset (CO) and adolescent onset (AO) depending on the age at which symptoms first appear. The dividing line between the two is usually set at 10 years of age. CO-CD (childhood-onset conduct disorder) is more resistant to treatment and is understood to be the more serious condition. Some have proposed that CO-CD has a neurodevelopmental basis while AO-CD is simply a form of normal teenage rebellion that is based on observing the behavior of other teens.


//////////////////////MRI RESULTS

• The breadth of the observed structural covariance across the entire cerebral cortex suggests that conduct disorder may involve multiple functional impairments and may not be localized to one or two areas of the brain. 
• The clear difference in structural covariance between the CO-CD and AO-CD groups suggests that structural covariance may be a useful tool for accurately diagnosing the two types of conduct disorder.
• It appears that neurodevelopmental factors contribute to the etiology of both CO-CD and AO-CD. This finding runs counter to the hypothesis that AO-CD is nothing more than a particular form of normal teenage rebellion.